Foothill League boys tennis: Prelims get a facelift

Vikings Gottshall, Inchalik dominate in doubles play

The top eight seeds in the Foothill League boys tennis prelims advanced to today's finals, but not as one might expect.

The singles and doubles finals will have a much different look than the regular season.

Valencia seniors Ben Inchalik and Tyler Gottshall elected to prepare for CIF-Southern Section Division II doubles playoffs rather than chase their first league titles in singles, and defeated their two opponents by a combined score of 24-0 on Saturday at the Paseo Club.

A league doubles title would give Gottshall his second, with his first coming three years ago alongside Jack Zapala.

Fellow Vikings John Schmidt and Sam Yun also advanced and will face Inchalik and Gottshall in the semifinals today.

Hart's Austin Morgan and Kevin Tanner will meet Valencia's Daniel Bingham and Daniel Bogan on the other side of the bracket.

The matchup will be the third meeting between the league's top two teams, with the previous two being split at one set a piece.

"Honestly, all of these matches don't feel any different to us," Morgan said. "We keep accomplishing our goals, so now we have to stop being modest and go for a league title."

In singles, Canyon standout and former league champion Jason Ferlianto advanced to the semifinals, where he will be joined by teammate Matt Kincaid.

"I know I can end up winning league finals this year," Macalutas said. "It's just about focusing on beating my opponent as well as possible every time I go out there."

Golden Valley did not advance anyone into the semifinals, but did see one doubles team advance to the second round, while standout Nikki Shim fell to Macalutas late in the day.

"You talk about guys that really committed to going out and playing every day, and its paid dividends," said Canyon head coach Kent Ganevsky, who coached many of the veteran Grizzlies as the program's head coach two years ago. "The seniors really set the tone for this program, it will be interesting to see if they can keep it up."

Golden Valley won its first league tennis match this year, and it can look forward to returning Myles Moore, a potential challenger for the league title next season.